Emily's East Coast Extravaganza!

It's been a while since I went on my 10-day excursion to the East Coast and life has been hectic since returning, so I'm just now writing about it. I went to Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D.C. My first two destinations were places I have never been before and D.C. is a familiar city that I grow to love every time I go. So now for some photographs of my fun travels!

My trip started in Philadelphia where my former roommate from college, Kristina, lives. She took me on a nice little tour of the city. We went to see the front of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and all the cool public sculpture in her city. We also went to Edgar Allen Poe's house, so the English major in me was happy.

We also ate a lot of amazing food and drank some interesting beer. We tried this thing at the City Tavern (apparently it was a former hang out for the likes of George, T.J and others) that was beer brewed or enjoyed by America's founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson's was the best. Yum!

The highlight of the trip was seeing Vampire Weekend at the Electric Factory. Oh Ezra Koenig, you make it possible for academic rock stars everywhere to be adored by loads of girls. Have my babies? Please and thank you.

After this, Kristina and I ventured to the concrete jungle where dreams are made from, the home of Carrie & Co., and the new home of my high school friend Angela. New York City has lots of adventures, and we embarked on our own on Saturday. This included day drinking at NYC's oldest bar McSorely's. Needless to say, we had lots of fun.

Sunday was not my favorite day, as I got sick :( (Stupid fish allergies!) Monday I was feeling much better so I ventured to Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Empire State Building, SoHo and the WTC site. I saw cool paintings like the one above. The MoMA was probably my favorite thing on that first day. The Empire State Building had a cool view, but it was like waiting in a line to wait in a line. Talk about annoying.

Day Four in NYC saw me riding the subway a lot. I went to Times Square and Union Square both of which are really cool. I had never seen so many people in one place. Times Square was simply bursting with people. There were loads of tourists from around the globe. I ate at PRET which made me happy because it made me think of London. I also stopped by the Met and went to see "Promises, Promises" starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chennoweth, which had terrible music but an excellent script. Sean Hayes was hilarious.

In NYC I had pizza and Indian food, but did not eat out very much. It's all really expensive. In fact, New York City in general costs an arm and a leg. I could never live there, but it's awesome to visit. Oh, I went to one of the stoops they used for Carrie's apartment in Sex and the City. It's been repainted since.

After that, I headed for D.C! D.C. is loads of fun and I definitely ate a lot of food and drank a lot of beer in this city as well. I had Cherry Blossom beer at a happy hour. D.C. is big on happy hours. I also had lots of wine, courtesy of my friend Kelley, who's apartment I stayed at. I went to art museums in D.C. as well as the Pentagon memorial the Smithsonian Musuem (the one on American History which was overcrowded with middle schoolers. I stayed an hour). I also ate lunch on the White House lawn and felt cooler than I actually am.

Some of my favorite things in D.C. included eating dinner at Lauriel Plaza. They have amazing swirl margaritas and really cool rooftop seating. Too bad it rained. I also went to the Newseum which was definitely my favorite thing on the D.C. portion of my trip. The museum is so well done. I was there for over three hours. They have all sorts of things, like newspapers dating back to the 15th century, an exhibit with Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs and a very moving 9/11 memorial. There's a part of the Berlin Wall, Tim Russert's office and SO MUCH MORE.

So I saw lots of great things in these cities but the greatest was seeing my friends. I guess it's telling of the fact that I'm getting older that my friends are now going in opposite directions, having real jobs, spreading their wings. It was great to see my friends, who I've missed a lot. Now it's their turn to come to Denver!